this area of low pressure is deepeni deepening. it is far enough out to sea where we're going to maybe get accumulating snow later this afternoon. right now we are getting rain. just getting sprinkles of light rain, fairfax county and points west. prince william and stafford and spotsylvania farther south along interstate 95. going to be getting wet towards fredericksburg and up toward dale city over the next hour or so. this may be fender bender weather. also getting a few sprinkles just east of us around anne arundel county. temperatures around the regions are in the 30s. we'll have this rain off and on this morning, changing to snow this afternoon. i'll have details on that coming up in just a few minutes. aaron? >> thank you, tom. this morning there is a lot to look back on from president obama's victory last night. the country and the world watched as votes came in, and we saw state after state turn blue in terms of those -- the states that were in question, the

toss-up states, as it were. tracie potts is in chicago where things have quieted down after an electrified crowd really lit up the place in chicago. tracie? >> reporter: good morning, everyone, from chicago. we weren't even sure we'd have an answer for you this morning. the race is so close. there are still major states outstanding as of early this morning. we do now know president obama won the 270-plus electoral votes needed to win this very close race. >> sorry about that. we're having trouble with tracie potts' story. we'll get to that later in the broadcast. tim kaine will be virginia's next senator. he defeated republican george

allen 53%-47%. megan mcgrath is live at tim kaine's headquarters with more. >> reporter: we're live at kaine headquarters in alexandria, virginia. you can see the homemade signs on the store front. it says tim kaine for virginia. kaine is attributing his success to this sort of grass roots support, grass roots enthusiasm. despite millions of dollars spent on this campaign by outside groups trying to influence the outcome from negative ads, in the end, kaine defeated george allen. kaine gave his acceptance speech before a crowd of supporters in richmond last night. he thanked them for all of their hard work in this very long campaign. george allen in his concession speech struck a similar tone. he also thanked his supporters. both men are saying that lots of work still needs to be done now that the election is over. >> now is the hard work. it's time for all of us in the

commonwealth to come together and find solutions to our nation's common problems. and i'm optimistic that we can because that's the virginia way. >> we need to continue to keep putting our beliefs into action, and my hope is that each and every one of you all will keep fighting, keep working, keep the faith, and always, most importantly, always stand strong for freedom. >> reporter: and senator-elect tim kaine will be appearing live later this morning on the "today" show. he's also holding a press conference later today right around noon. reporting live in alexandria, megan mcgrath, news 4. eun, back to you. >> there were nine swing states that were key for both candidates to win the white house. just as expected, those states proved pivotal in re-election. those were key for president obama as new hampshire and pennsylvania both fell his way. then he landed the key

midwestern and mountain states of wisconsin, colorado, and iowa. that left nevada and the three critical states we've been watching for months. we're talking ohio, virginia, and florida. as it turns out, the president only needed one of those states. as soon as nbc news projected ohio for obama around 11:15, the president had enough electoral votes to keep him in the white house. as icing on the cake, though, the president did also pick up virginia, and he also picked up nevada early this morning. in about two months, gay marriage will become legal in the state of maryland. voters upheld an amendment making same-sex marriage legal in the state. the assembly passed the amendment earlier this year, but opponents were able to put it on the ballot. other states had similar amendments on the ballot. voters in maine voted to legalize same-sex marriage while washington state is still counting the vote. in minnesota, a vote to ban same-sex marriage was shot down by voters.

in maryland, prince george's is on its way to a new casino. the amendment passed, which will bring table games to maryland's existing casinos as well. it will help keep money inside the state rather than lose it to casinos in other states. election day dragged into election night for hundreds of northern virginia voters. viewers in prince william county say they waited in line for more than four hours to vote at potomac middle school in dumfries. election workers say they had a much higher voter turnout than expected. excessively long lines were reported elsewhere in virginia too. workers blamed it on a shortage of voting machines. vincent orange easily won re-election in city council. but newcomer independent david grosso beat out incumbent michael brown. phil mendelson is chairman of the council after serving for five months following kwame brown's resignation. yvette alexander retained her

council ward seat. 88% of the vote for marion barry, who begins his third term on the d.c. council. maryland democrats picked up a seat in the house of representatives in the 6th district. john delaney beat long time incumbent roscoe bartlett. the lines were recently redrawn. in virginia's 8th district, jim moran beat patrick murray by an overwhelming margin. it's the second time murray challenged moran. it is now 4:36. 40 degrees. still to come, lots of voters stood in line to cast their votes. coming up, we'll keep an eye on the voting problems in virginia and nationwide.

welcome back. at 4:39, it has been a cold start to the week and getting even colder. we've mentioned the "s" word. i had to dig out the winter coats for my kids.

they said, you know what, it's november. i'm not putting on my winter coat. >> tom, seems like a big word already. >> and the "s" word is not sun. we're talking about maybe some snow later today. right now storm team 4 radar showing this coastal area of low pressure we've been talking about the last couple of days. it is now a reality. it is a rapidly deepening area of low pressure. a buoy here about 50 miles northeast of ocean city. there's a gust of wind out there about 40 miles an hour. it is really beginning to intensify. right along the coast, this area of yellow and orange, they're getting moderate to heavy rain just east of atlantic city down to near chincoteague. this is advancing to the north and northwest. southern maryland, northern virginia. all these areas in light green. just a few sprinkles of chilly rain. that's in anne arundel, calvert, charles, st. mary's, southern prince george's county. also getting a few sprinkles across the potomac and fairfax county and down 95 to prince william and stafford and spotsylvania and parts of fauquier county. there may be a few wet

snowflakes along the blue ridge just to the northwest of warrenton, and temperatures are all above freezing, though. we are in the mid and upper 30s. low 40s. it's going to be a damp and chilly morning as you head out this wednesday morning. you'll need an umbrella as we're going to have the sprinkles around for a time into the morning hours. today later and into tonight, we've got a winter weather advisory in effect for maybe as much as four inches of snow. that's going to be up into southern pennsylvania. lighter amounts farther south and closer to the metro area. i'll show you how much i think we're going to get coming up here in a few minutes. as we go forward, the storm system well enough offshore to not bring a lot of precipitation inland, but with cold air around, it could be snowing from boston to new york and right down through new jersey into delaware and areas just north and east of washington. this is as of 3:00 this afternoon. that's when we'll have some of that colder air getting drawn into the storm, changing the rain to snow. and then this evening, this is as of 7:00 p.m., we still could

have some of that just to the north and east of washington, some of the heavier amounts of snow, northern delaware, up into new jersey, and around the new york city area. and then that storm system then deepens more and moves on up toward eastern new england, and we here will dry out. this is a thursday morning at 5:00. we ought to have the cloud cover breaking up. we'll get some sunshine back tomorrow. i'll have all the details on that. we'll take a look at the seven day outlook. that will be coming up here in another ten minutes. for the day today, hour by hour. you'll need an umbrella this morning. a chilly light rain by 6:00 a.m., upper 30s. by noontime, the low 40s. winds will begin to pick up too. they'll start gusting around 20 to 25 miles an hour. we're going to change over to wet snow, maybe 1:00, 2:00, all the way to this evening. some of the wet snow accumulating on grassy areas. i'll show you my snow total map in about ten minutes. now let's have a look at traffic. danella is here with first 4 traffic this wednesday morning. good morning. >> good morning, tom. checking the roadways.

if you're traveling along 66, things look good outside the beltway. i'll take a live look as you make your way past fairfax county parkway. eastbound and westbound, you're clear. not seeing any delays. eastbound 66, no issues there as you make your way through the rosslyn tunnel. very light volume. i-270, if that's your trip, i'm checking it. back with results in about ten minutes. >> 4:43 now. 40 degrees. after the break, late night revelry at the white house gates. and president obama ♪ [ female announcer ] nature exists on the grandest scale... ♪ ...and in the tiniest details. ♪ and sometimes both. nature valley granola thins pack the big taste of granola and dark chocolate into one perfect square,

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you, the american people, reminded us that, while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked

ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the united states of america, the best is yet to come. >> president barack obama voted into the white house for another four years. last night in his victory speech to an ecstatic chicago crowd, he promised to work across the aisle and also harken back to his 2008 victory speech, telling his daughters that for now one dog is enough. hundreds of people gathered late last night at the white house to celebrate president obama's re-election. many people chanted and climbed on trees waving the american flag. people also celebrated the president's re-election in the "u" street corridor of the district. hundreds chanted four more years while blocking "u" street. police eventually had to shut the street down. it has, of course, reopened. democrats are also

celebrating a big win in virginia. tim kaine defeated george allen in that race to become the commonwealth's next u.s. senator. news 4's julie carey has more where tim kaine celebrated his victory. >> reporter: he's been the governor, d.c. chairman, and richmond mayor. now tim kaine adds senator-elect to his title. >> tim kaine and ann holden. >> reporter: an exuberant tim kaine hit the stage and started the celebration shortly after his gop challenger george allen conceded. but kaine had barely begun his victory speech when he interrupted it with even bigger news for this democratic crowd. >> nbc just called the presidential race for president obama. >> reporter: it was a moment that duplicated the history made four years ago in virginia, when for the first time in 40 years, voters selected a democratic president. they also picked a democratic senator then mark warner. in 2012 with first term senator

jim webb deciding not to run for re-election. republicans hoped to put this seat in gop hands. more outside money was spent on negative ads than any other senate contest. kaine told supporters this victory sends a message. >> here's what it means. our victory tonight proves that it's the number of people who stand with you, not the number of zeros behind a check. >> reporter: tim kaine wrapped up his victory speech, reminding supporters that, even though he's just been through a long 19-month campaign, the real work starts now. in richmond, julie carey, news 4 today. and maryland joins other states in allowing same-sex marriage. voters upheld the amendment 52%-48%. the general assembly pass the it earlier this year, but opponents gathered enough signatures to put it on the ballot. governor martin o'malley said during a celebration in baltimore that the state must come together now to provide equal rights for everyone. >> we are one. our cause is one.

and we must help each other if we are to succeed. >> the amendment will take effect january 1st of next year. overall, it was a good night for supporters of same-sex marriage. maine passed a similar measure while washington state is still counting votes for its own amendment. minnesota voters blocked a ban on same-sex marriage. same-sex marriage is now legal in eight states and the district. many people complained of long lines. in florida, hundreds of people were in line when the polls closed. meanwhile in the northeast, people struggled just to get to their polling stations. >> i've been here three times. they finally got machines in. now the machines are jammed up. it's just total chaos. >> many people in the new york and new jersey area voted in temporary tents and makeshift polling places. election leaders brought in generations to power polling places that remain in the dark from hurricane sandy. >> 4:49. as the rest of the world wakes up, world leaders

congratulate president obama. melissa mollet at the live desk. >> just hearing from international leaders from france, china, japan -- all congratulating president obama on his win. british prime minister david cameron just spoke from jordan on the final day of his three-day visit to the middle east. up to this point, he really hasn't commented much on the election. >> i'd like to congratulate barack obama on his re-election. i've really enjoyed working with him over the last few years, and i work forward to working with him again over the next four years. >> cameron also took to twitter earlier this morning to offer congratulations to the president. he says he wants to work with obama on the economy, helping syrian refugees, and an eu-u.s. trade deal. something else we just got into the live desk. japan's prime minister speaking to supporters in tokyo saying, we look forward to continued cooperation going forward. at the live desk, melissa mollet, news 4. just about 4:51. time for weather and traffic on the ones. >> storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is here. the coastal storm we've been

advertising the last few days is now a reality. it's spinning east of ocean city. this area of coastal low pressure does have areas of moderate rain just off the atlantic seaboard down across the delaware bay. that's moving inland, already getting gusts of wind 20 to 25 miles an hour. there's a buoy here off of ocean city that's had gusts of up to 40 miles an hour. storm team 4 radar showing gusts of light rain, maybe a few wet snowflakes mixing in montgomery county. just a few sprinkles of light rain elsewhere around the beltway and fairfax county down 95. prince william down to fredericksburg and points south. much of southern maryland getting wet with light rain as is the eastern shore. this is advancing north. temperatures are all above freezing now. so are the road temperatures. that's a critical thing. right now mid and upper 30s to near 40 degrees much of the region. road temperatures are hovering around 40. any changeover to snow this

afternoon is likely going to accumulate in grassy areas. it may accumulate on roadways. winter weather advisory northeastern maryland up into southeastern pennsylvania. this coastal low will continue to track along and move northeast along the coast later today. this area of lavender, a zone of snow from southern new england all the way down to delaware and the lower part of the eastern shore and maybe even right around washington and our northern suburbs too. the storm system rapidly moves toward new england later tonight and into tomorrow. we'll dry out later tomorrow and bring beautiful weather into the week and the weekend. light rain this morning through 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 with temperatures hovering in the upper 30s. by noontime, low 40s. rain may pick up and change over to snow as cold air gets drawn into that system from 1:00 or 2:00 and off and on into the evening hours. how much snow? i think one to three inches possible. maybe just an inch or so into our northern suburbs. as much as three around

baltimore and northeastern maryland and maybe a dusting, eun, again, just grassy areas. eastern, southern suburbs, washington, and parts of northern virginia by the time it all tapers off and ends. that's going to be by perhaps after midnight tonight. and then tomorrow we'll have a nice day. afternoon temperatures in the 40s to 50s. winds may gust to 25, 30 at most. that may continue off and on tonight into tomorrow. then on friday, saturday, sunday, beautiful weather moves in. high pressure, sunshine, chilly mornings, but mild afternoons. then on veterans day observed monday, partly cloudy. mid-60s, beautiful weather, mild weekend first part of next week. could get showers as the front moves through on tuesday. i'll be back in ten minutes with frequent updates throughout the morning, we'll be tracking the coastal storm. stay tuned. first 4 traffic with danella. good morning. >> good morning, tom. checking on things at i-270 as promised, we'll look at it together. making the trip out of

frederick, travel lanes are open. very light volume as you continue your trip southbound through clarksburg. even heading towards germantown, gaithersburg. not seeing any issues as you continue your commute through rockville from the spur connecting to the beltway. we'll take a live look in this area, again, nice and clear. inner loop, you have to be careful as you get around university boulevard. only the left lane is going to get you by the work zone still in place there. no accidents in the roadway for you. from i-270, as you head toward the american legion bridge and crossing over the american legion bridge in both directions. your travel lanes are open. no incidents to report. back over to you. >> thank you, danella. this morning we're getting a look at private moments for the obama campaign overnight. this photo was taken just moments after the president, vice president, and their wives learned they were projected to win the election. this photo from just feet away as returns came around the country. >> people were watching votes come in last night.

throughout the d.c. area, there were plenty of watch parties both formal and informal. we found one as people shared their voting experiences. >> i got up at 5:30 to vote. my polling place was my building. i still had to wait 2 1/2 hours to vote. clearly, people were very excited. >> some bars even offered drink specials as people wear "i voted" stickers. people across the area did the same thing, offered free food after people voted with the sticker. not saying, listen, if you vote, i'll give you this. >> after the vote, right. right now it's looking like the turnout was less than it was in 2008, but we still saw huge numbers of people. we looked at the early voting in the days leading up to the election yesterday, and the numbers were there. at least the crowd seemed to be there in droves. >> i thought it was so encouraging to see the long lines in virginia, in prince george's county, in other parts of our country that people cared enough to stand in the long

lines. it wasn't warm weather per se. people keep saying why aren't the elections in june? >> couldn't do that. next, a closer look at exactly how the president won re-election. >> coming up at 5:00, voters weigh in on exactly what issues helped make their decision. [ boy 1 ] hey! that's the last crescent.

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and we know in our hearts that for the united states of america, the best is yet to come. >> before an exuberant crowd of supporters in chicago, this morning president obama vows to move the country forward after he's elected for another four years. it is the morning after election day and sort of the continuation of election day, if you will. good morning, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" for this wednesday, november 7th, 2012. we have continuing coverage, but the weather could steal the headlines very soon. take a look. a coastal storm is moving into our area as we speak. you see the rain off